Rock and Roll Baby Names By Margaret Eby (Book Review)

Tired of screaming your kid’s name at the playground and realizing that every other parent in the neighborhood also had the brilliant idea to name their offspring “Connor” or “Emma”? Then have I got the book for you.

Rock and Roll Baby Names by freelance writer, former DJ and music obsessive Margaret Eby is the must-have for that expectant couple with just a slightly better taste in music than your average soon-to-be parent. The hard-to-put-down book (and as the father of two, I can vouch for just how painfully dull most baby name books are written) is a reference that indexes names not simply by their Greek meaning or perceived (read: made up) qualities, but by their namesake rock song.

Best of all is the amount of musical trivia she has managed to cram into nearly 350 pages, thanks to inspired sidebars like “Names Not Even Rock Can Redeem” (Biff, Purvis, etc.), “The Beatles Baby Names” and “The Weirdest Rocker Baby Names” (which could actually be an entirely separate book).

From “Addie” (King Creole and the Coconuts) to “Xeno” (Kelley Polar, Pacou), if you can’t find a name for your bundle of joy after thumbing through this well-researched and thoroughly enjoyable reference book, you might as well go with “Connor” or “Emma”.